Yoga: Varieties of practice for all human needs

Everyone knows what yoga is, right? Slow, deliberate exercises and postures for physical, mental and spiritual balance. Taught in gyms, studios and on DVDs by physically fit instructors. Oh, and there usually is some sitar music in the background and breathing deeply is important. That is yoga (at least to most people).

Yes, that is one kind of yoga and it is very popular in the Western world. But there are many other kinds of yoga. The Sanskrit word yóga means yoke and refers to a self-imposed discipline common to all schools of yoga. In the Vedas, however, it is used more figuratively to suggest a use or application, such as in Bhakti yoga, in which it purports a devotional practice (‘bhaki’ means devotion, from the Sanskrit word bhaj, ‘loving service’) or attachment to the Supreme. Such desire for union with God is the aim of Bhakti yoga.

The Bhagavad Gita highlights two distinct yogas: Jnana yoga (“yoga based on knowledge”) and Karma yoga (“yoga based on action”). We can understand the former by realizing the difference between the body and the soul, that we are not this body but eternal spirit-souls. Karma yoga however is the work that we do in everyday life, and if done without selfish intent will gradually lead one to non-attachment, and service towards God and others.

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder-acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness translates verse 2.48 of Bhagavad Gita, in which Lord Krishna instructs to Arjuna,
“Perform your duty equipoised, O Arjuna, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such equanimity is called yoga.” And in verse 6:2 “What is called renunciation you should know to be the same as yoga, or linking oneself with the Supreme, O son of Pandu, for one can never become a yogī unless he renounces the desire for sense gratification.”

Who is a successful Yogi ? BG 2.56-58: One who is not disturbed in mind even when there miseries or happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger. One who is unaffected by whatever good or evil he may obtain, neither praising it nor despising it. One who is able to withdraw his senses from sense objects, as the tortoise draws its limbs within the shell.

Though yogas are commonly used for health and fitness, the Vedic texts explain that yoga is meant to connect with God (Krishna). Bhakti is the essence of the eternal relationship we souls have with Krishna. In material existence, our Bhakti is covered by our material consciousness and misdirected away from Krishna and toward the temporary things of this world. Therefore we are never fully satisfied. Simply, we can awaken our natural Bhakti by practicing Bhakti. In other words, we can awaken our love for Krishna by performing acts of love for Him.

Since yoga can also mean “connection,” the process by which we connect with Krishna through acts of love is called Bhakti yoga. There’s much more to loving God than just saying, “I love God.” We attain pure love for Krishna through a gradual process that takes us through progressively higher realms of Bhakti. Fortunately, we can begin the process at any point in life or wherever we are in our spiritual journey.

The Bhakti process is systematic and is laid out in detail by the followers of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu (commonly referred to as ‘Hare Krishnas’) in books such as Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu (presented by Srila Prabhupada as The Nectar of Devotion). These books provide not only instructions but also guideposts by which the student of Bhakti can evaluate his or her progress.

The awakening of Bhakti takes place in three progressive stages:
(1) regulated practice,
(2) attachment, and finally
(3) pure love.

To summarize, Bhakti connotes devotion, or love, and love implies service. Service refers to that activity which is intended to please the beloved. Thus “devotional service” is an eloquent definition of Bhakti. Love is the most fundamental drive of every living entity. We cannot be happy without satisfying this desire to love, and we will not be able to perfectly fulfill this desire without permitting its expansion to the most inclusive extent.

Just as a child begins by loving his or her parents, then expands that love to family, friends, community, nation and finally the entire human society, such affection is not fully achieved without knowing who is the supreme controller of this world. This is the aim of Krishna consciousness. And practicing Bhakti yoga by chanting the holy names of the Lord is the most direct way of such realization, which leads to full happiness.

The quote about doing your duty and abandoning attachment to consequence is such a powerful one. It was the most memorable concept for me when I first read the Bhagavqd Gita. I had never identified unselfishness as a form of yoga. Thank you for that…very thought provoking.